1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tape player with a cassette loading and ejecting mechanisms, such as an automotive stereo audio tape player. More particularly, the present invention is concerned with a cassette eject mechanism of a tape player which is capable of ejecting a cassette with minimal power.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, an automotive stereo audio tape player has a cassette eject mechanism which drives an inserted cassette half to a loaded position and automatically ejects the same when the playback is over. In a conventional eject mechanism, an exclusive solenoid is used as an actuator for directly actuating the eject mechanism. However, such a direct actuating system requires a solenoid of a large output power which undesirably increases the weight and power consumption.
Under this circumstance, an eject mechanism is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 61-3539 in which the eject mechanism is actuated by power derived from a motor. In this known system, however, the timing of start of the ejecting operation is determined by the operation of an exclusive solenoid.
In the known eject mechanisms described above, exclusive solenoids are used as the actuator for actuating the eject mechanism or as means for determining the timing of operation of the eject mechanism. Consequently, the weight of the eject mechanism is increased due to the presence of the solenoid and an additional circuit is required exclusively for driving and controlling the solenoid.